*California Part One*

“We should totally get away. You know just all of us piling into some cars and getting away!” Vanessa said as she flopped down on the couch beside Rachel.

“That’d be cool. I’m down for that, if you can get Justin to agree to going.” Matt said as him and Trace played video games in Justin’s living room.

“Ugh why does it have to be me? Where is Justin anyways?” Vanessa said as she leaned her head back against the sofa cushions.

“Well it was your idea. Besides he can’t say no to you...well most of the time he can’t. He’s out shopping or working out with Jessica. Its either one or the other.” Rachel said with a smile as she patted Vanessa’s head making her feel like a dog.

“Fine when he gets back tell him to call me and I’ll tell him about the plan. Trace, do you think Joanna will want to come too?” Vanessa asked as she got up from the couch and grabbed her keys.

“Yeah probably she’s into that kind of stuff. We should ask Nick too and Candice.” Trace told her as he continued to play.

“Yeah I already asked them and they’re down. Great so the only one I got to pitch to is Justin, seems easy enough.” Vanessa said with a smile as she said Goodbye and left Justin’s to head back to her own house.

Vanessa walked into her house bumping into some boxes that littered her hallway. She tossed her keys onto the table in the hallway before heading into her kitchen to grab some water to drink. She sighed as she opened the refrigerator and was met with a blast of cold air.

“Nice of you to show up.” His deep voice stated as he startled her.

“Why are you scaring me like that? I thought you were shopping or working out or whatever Rach said.” Vanessa stated as she turned around to face him. Her brown eyes took in his frame as he leaned against her kitchen counter obviously having made himself at home.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I just thought I would come over to see how the packing was going and working out didn’t happen for obvious reasons.” He stated as he waved his hands around indicating that he would rather stand in her kitchen and wait for her then go work out.

“Oh I see...well packing is moving along.” Vanessa said with a chuckle as she looked at him.

“Are you ready to move back to England? Or are you going to miss it here?” He asked as he stood steadfast where he was standing taking in her reactions to his questions.

“I’m ready to move back just because it’s a great opportunity to come out of retirement but I’m going to miss you guys.” She stated as she looked at the floor. “But you’ll come visit me, right?” She asked with a slight smile as her eyes met his.

“Of course.” He said with a sad smile.

“So I was thinking...” She said as he lifted his eyes to meet hers. “We should take a road trip! You know you, me, Trace, Nick, Joanna, Matt, Rachel, and Candice. The whole gang. From Cali to Florida since you have to be there in three months. We could even stop by in Amarillo and Millington. I mean you finally have a three month break! Which means Rachel and Trace do too. Candice is off from school for the summer as well as Nick and Matt. And I would really like one last hurrah before I move.” She said trying to convince him to say yes.

“A last hurrah? That would be cool. We haven’t done a road trip in forever! So would we camp out or stay in hotels?” He asked as he watched her eyes light up at his approval.

“I was hoping both...” She said as she watched the grimace in his face. “Come on Justin, you’re not getting popstar soft are you?” She joked with a grin.

“Popstar soft? Pft. I can camp with the best of them woman!” He said with a grin as she walked up to him.

“It’ll be the best going away present E-V-E-R J!” Vanessa said with a smile as she hugged him close to her almost sighing as his arms wrapped around her waist scooping her up causing her to squeal.

“I’m glad you’re amused by the simple things. Here’s your key since you’ll have to turn it in before you move.” He said as he placed her back on the floor and handed her the key she let him have when he needed to get away from everyone else and just disappear to her house.

“Thanks for bringing it by.” Vanessa said with a sad smile as she took it from him. There was so much she wanted to say to him as he stood in front of her but the words weren’t coming out.

“No problem. So I guess I’ll go and start packing! Have you told the others?” He asked as he stepped away from her.

“Yep, you were the last one! So I’m guessing we should leave by at least 8 in the AM!” Vanessa said as she showed him to the front door.

“Okay I’ll let everyone else know if you tell Candice.” Justin said as he walked to his Jeep waving goodbye to her as he climbed in and drove off.

Justin walked through his front door throwing his keys on the table in the hallway before letting out a sigh he had been holding.

“How’d it go?” Trace asked him as he stood there in the hallway unable to move.

“I didn’t tell her.” Justin said as he moved past Trace and headed up the stairs to his room.

“What do you mean you didn’t tell her? Wasn’t that the whole point of going over there?” Trace asked Justin as he followed him up the stairs.

“I couldn’t. She just started talking about this road trip thing and I saw all her boxes packed and she was talking about how England was a great opportunity and I couldn’t do it man.” Justin said as he ran his hands over his face letting out another heavy sigh.

“Dude if she goes to England she’s going to be signing a three year contract. A three year contract Justin! Do you really think you can wait three years to let her know how you feel?” Trace asked as he took a seat on Justin’s bed.

“No, but she’s going to be able to play soccer again. You know how much she wants that! How do I crush her dreams just because she’s the girl of my dreams? Not to mention the fact that I have a girlfriend! God I completely forgot about Jess!” Justin said as he threw himself onto his bed in frustration.

“Okay so we have three months J. Three months to tell her how you feel and let her decide if she really wants to go back to England or not. And as far as the whole Jessica thing, it isn’t fair to be with her when you want to be with Vanessa. You should at least tell her you want a break to figure things out.” Trace said as he tried to calm Justin down.

“You’re right I should put things on hold with Jess until I let Vanessa know how I feel. I just hope she feels the same way about me.” Justin said with a sigh.

“Okay well I’m going to leave. I have to go pack and tell Joanna.” Trace said as he turned to leave.

“Oh yeah be here by eight. Can you tell the rest?” Justin asked as he grabbed his phone ready to call Jessica.

“Yeah man. Good Luck.” Trace stated as he walked out of Justin’s house heading downstairs to let everyone know when they would be leaving.

“Hey Jess, its me um... I have something to tell you...” Justin into the phone, dreading this conversation but knowing that it needed to be done.